


Just Like You

by orphan_account



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Angst, Kidnapping, M/M, The Fall spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 07:33:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/695810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Who--" The assassin coughed violently, "Who the fuck are you?" the sound of another chair scrapping loudly against the ground could be heard, then the rustle of movement and the sickening feeling of a gun being pressed to the centre of his forehead.</p><p>"I'm just like you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like You

**Author's Note:**

> Forgot I wrote this... aha.. it was for the km somewhere, asking for Cross/Miles hurt/comfort, I think. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Spoilers to The Fall**

When Desmond came to, he couldn't see a thing. 

The blindfold was tight; enough to hold his eyes shut, but not quite enough to hurt. The real pain came from the back of his skull, throbbing violently; a result of blunt force. Slowly and carefully, he lifted his head, twisting his head this way and that, his neck stiff. He seemed to be lying on concrete, perhaps a warehouse? 

No hidden blade. Fuck, fuck. His hands were tied behind his back with a thin piece of plastic, almost tight enough to cut off blood circulation. In fact, it probably was. The nerves in his fingertips were buzzing and beginning to ache.

Breathe. Breathe. It's alright. Fuck. You can do this. You only have to survive long enough for Shaun and Rebecca to find you, right? Where the fuck are they?!

Slowly, Desmond curled his twitching fingers inward to his wrist, trying to diagnostically analyse his handcuffs, but he instantly froze when he heard footsteps approaching him. The sound echoed through the building loudly.

"Rargh!" A hand gripped him hard behind the head by his hair and yanked violently. The headache came back with a vengeance. There was a laugh, loud and barking, before Desmond was firmly yanked up to his feet, his head throbbing and spinning from the sudden movement, almost nauseatingly so, and then he was pushed down into a chair. The hard, wooden back of the chair dug painfully into his arms.

"Who--" The assassin coughed violently, "Who the fuck are you?" the sound of another chair scrapping loudly against the ground could be heard, then the rustle of movement and the sickening feeling of a gun being pressed to the centre of his forehead.

"I'm just like you." Desmond could hear the grin, and the voice was vaguely familiar, too.

"Don't fuck with me." another laugh, almost hysterical.

"'Don't fuck with you'?! Look at you! Tied up! Blindfolded! Gun to the head! 'Don't fuck with you'-- I'll fuck with you as much as I want!" Desmond scowled and his captor only snorted.

"You really don't know who I am? Guess."

"... I don't--"

"GUESS." And, shit, that was definitely the click of a safety trigger. Desmond wracked his brain. The voice was familiar, it was! 

"Come on, Desmond." the gun pressed harder. He'd heard it somewhere... From not long ago... But... It... Was it manhattan? Yes! The Abstergo agent! Rebecca was talking about him a few days ago. But his name... What was his name?! 

"Daniel! Daniel... Cross?" Desmond stumbled out, and suddenly, the gun was gone, and the blindfold too. The brunette winced as he opened his eyes, his sight blurry and unfocused under halogen lights.

"Correct!" Daniel grinned, tossing the blindfold to the side.

They were in a carpark, most likely underground. The pillars were emblazoned with a large B4, so, shit, they were pretty far underground, too. Bad reception, probably no reception at all. There was only one car in the corner back, few bothered to find a spot this far down, but a motorbike sat not far from Daniel, keys still in the ignition, probably so that he could make a quick escape if needed to... Though if Desmond could somehow work his way free from these binds...

Daniel himself sat a mere foot in front of Desmond, his chair facing chest to back, with his legs spread wide to bracket the base of the back of the chair and his arms resting over the top.

"What do you want from me?"

"Dunno," Daniel looked around the carpark aloofly, "a little fun?"

"Fun?" Desmond's nose scrunched, half in confusion and half in horror, "... What kind of fun?" 

Daniel just hummed and said suggestively, "Well, we can have some of the fun you're thinking of too."

"I wasn’t thinking of any kind of fun." And certainly not that kind.

"But you are now, and you want to."

"I don't want."

"You are a pretty good lookin' guy, I guess," Daniel smirked, "But what should we do?"

"I. Don't. Want. To."

"You could suck my dick?" Daniel's eyelids lowered slightly and Desmond flushed, "I could suck yours."

"Y-you--!" Desmond choked on his own words, shocked by Daniel's tenacity, "What the fuck?!" Daniel's smirk just morphed into a shit-eating grin.

"Well now I just have to," Daniel paused in thought, his eyes trained uncomfortably on Desmond’s crotch, "yours it is!"

And with that and another flash of a grin, Daniel jumped out of his seat, moving the chair to the side with a kick that almost toppled it, and dropping to his knees.

"I swear to motherfucking God, you better stop right now." Desmond put a foot onto Daniel's chest and tried to push him away, but the Abstergo agent simply twisted his torso away from the foot and hit Desmond's ankle hard on the side so that his shoe simply skid right off him.

"Now, now..." Daniel sighed unzipping Desmond's fly and slowly kneading his flaccid cock through his briefs. Despite Desmond's complaints and refusals, it didn't take long to become semi-hard.

"Fuuck..." Desmond desperately wished he had his hands free so he could hide his fucking face, but he had to make do with throwing his head back. And that seemed to work okay for a while until he felt a hot mouth over his shaft through his briefs, tongue working slowly over the fabric and, Jesus fuck, he had a tongue piercing. He couldn't help but let his legs fall further apart. He could feel the quirk of Daniel's smirk on him, and Desmond flicked his head back down with a glare,

"Don't you fucking say a- aahh fuck..." just the sight of Daniel, along with the feeling his mouth sucking now... Desmond bit his bottom lip and flicked his head back up to the ceiling, resolving to never moan again.

Daniel lifted his mouth off of Desmond, and the assassin fought the urge to whine. 

"I wasn't going to say anything." Daniel said as he pulled the briefs down and freed Desmond's cock, the cold air hitting it hard and causing Desmond's hips to jerk slightly.

"Just..." Desmond looked back down, and, fuck, the sight of his erection, the wet briefs and Daniel's smirk...

"Hmm?" a hand fondled his balls, slowly but firmly, and Desmond bit his lip again.

"... Just do it." Desmond muttered. Daniel saluted him cockily, and without another breath, took Desmond's dick into his mouth, almost whole. The assassin's hips jerked suddenly and Daniel's forearm, the same arm still holding the fucking gun, safety still off, came slamming down on his hips to keep them steady, and somehow that only made Desmond want to moan even more.

Slowly, Daniel drew himself back up the shaft, until only the head remained in his mouth, then, with his free hand gripping the base, he flicked his tongue over the head and sucked, making sure his piercing flicked over the slit. Desmond felt like he was about to slide right out of the chair from how he was trying to simultaneously raise his hips off it and push himself closer to Daniel. His feet rolled up so only the heel of his sneakers were on the floor.

"Aggh... Shit yes... Just like that..." 

Daniel alternated between pumping his mouth up and down the shaft, piercing pressed against the underside, and playing with the head, all the while keeping the sucking constant, his cheeks hollowed out. It didn't take long for Desmond to come, with a particularly hard jerk of the hips as the only warning, his mouth hanging open in a caught gasp before exhaling with a groan. The Abstergo agent simply caught it all in his mouth, lifted himself up and spat quite vulgarly onto the ground. Desmond was rather disgusted, but he couldn't expect him to swallow, especially in this... This situation...

"Sh- Shit, man,” Desmond was still panting, “What the FUCK is wrong with you?! Oh my god, I can't... I can't even..." he flushed and looked down at his crotch.

"I'll get that for ya, pal," Daniel grinned, tucking Desmond away again and doing the zip back up. The damp briefs were uncomfortable but bearable.

"Y-You-- you think you can just kidnap people and just... What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Everything, really, so stop asking, and besides, what's done is done. You liked it anyway." Daniel shrugged as he drew his chair back and sat back down on it.

"I did not!"

"Well don't act like you did, then. And if you didn't want it to happen, you shouldn't have been so entertaining to tease."

"Fuck you!" Desmond spat, and Daniel just laughed. Desmond had never been so embarrassed in his life. He tucked his chin into his chest and groaned. He couldn’t even follow what was happening right now. Daniel only lifted his gun as if to inspect it, and to the assassin’s relief, he flicked the safety back on.

"But now it's time to get down to business," Daniel brushed off Desmond's anger, which only made the brunette seethe even more, "So, how is it?" the blonde asked conversationally.  
"How is what?" Desmond spat. Daniel sucked on the insides of his cheeks and shifted his jaw back and forth slightly, using the end of his pistol to rub his jaw. Desmond only flushed and looked back down again.

"You know, being treated like a fucking princess," Daniel clarified bluntly, his gun waving around as he gestured, and Desmond was highly offended, "having sessions that are only hours long, not days. Having breaks. Having friends. Being monitored to prevent the Bleeding effect. Having your pop to support you. Being able to choose when to leave the Animus. How is it all? Pretty fucking great, huh?" Desmond didn't reply, only pursed his lips, so Daniel went on, leaning in close so that his nose just barely touched Desmond's, and the assassin leaned away uncomfortably.

"Life's pretty good, huh? For you, at least. I guess you don't know what it's like to be trapped for days in the Animus, but to feel safer in the Animus than out. Because you are nothing without it, you have no life, no purpose outside of it. I guess you don't know what it's like to be brainwashed. To tear down everything around you; stab, murder, betray, destroy and not even know it until it’s too late, and you're standing there, with that God damned hidden blade red and dripping, over the body of your mentor. Over the corpse of your life." Daniel's voice had lowered to a hiss, his eyes glinting angrily. Desmond shifted uneasily; this was going somewhere serious and fast, and Desmond could feel the anger slowly seeping out of him. It was almost frightening now, how mercurial the other man was.

"You think your life was tough. Growing up in the Farm, running away to bar hop for years and reject your heritage? It wasn't tough. And it's not now either. It must be great to be you."

"I don't..." Desmond didn't know what to say. It was true. Relative to Daniel, Desmond's life was a walk in the park. And he could tell that the man in front of him didn't want pity; he would probably shoot him if he showed it. It wasn't as if Daniel wanted Desmond's life, it was more like... He couldn't comprehend how a life like Desmond's could exist. It was like he wanted to understand Desmond. It was a weird feeling, to be looked at as if one was alien. Awkward. Strange. This whole experience, this situation, was easily the strangest in Desmond's life ever. This man before him, whom he barely even knew, and couldn't understand at all, who he had only met about a week or so ago, and only just barely met, too, was completely broken and naive. And yet, he was strong, as well, but for all the wrong reasons.

"I'm just like you, Desmond," Daniel whispered, leaning even closer, "I have Assassin ancestors... And memories. I've been in the Animus. Hell, I was an assassin for a long time. Longer than you. But you... You were..." Daniel paused, the word escaping him for a brief moment, "... Lucky."

"... I guess I was." Desmond mumbled.

"AGHHH!!"

All of a sudden, Daniel stumbled backwards out of his chair. His foot nicked the chair leg and it toppled to the side. The gun clattered to the ground as Daniel's hands raised to clutched at his head in pain. Desmond was quick to kick the gun, and it skid a good twenty or so metres away.

"FFFFUCKK! NO!!" Daniel fell to his knees, hitting the sides of his temples with the heels of his hands as if to hit something out, violently. Desmond could only watch in horror. The pain was so cruel and intense, just observing it made Desmond's own dull headache seer a little harder as well.

When it finally stopped, Daniel kneeled with his head hung, his hands now dropped to his sides. It had felt like hours for both of them, but in reality, it was probably only a minute or two. Desmond licked his lips nervously. His throat was dry.

"... I..." Daniel's voice was hoarse, "It's hell, you know? To live like this. With nothing. Controlled by Abstergo. I... I live in fucking fear, Desmond. Of the future. Of happiness. What else could they have programmed into my mind? Sometimes, I don’t even know who I am anymore. Sometimes, I’m not even me. And this pain... This pain..." Daniel raised his hands and ran them up his face, pressing the heels into his brow.

"D...aniel...." Desmond felt helpless, useless in his chair.

"I need... You... To save me." 

"Wh--"

"It doesn't... It doesn't matter how... Or even when. I need you... To look at me and see me." Daniel looked up, his eyes were glistening.

"Do you see, Desmond?"

Now it all made sense. The seemingly spontaneous decision to kidnap him instead of kill, the... Weird insistence for the... Servicing, though that was probably not planned, but the whole life story, the gun... Everything was to convince him, and it worked. This man in front of him was no villain. He was a victim to Abstergo, his life had been ruined and now there was nothing left but to keep working for the Templars. With how mercurial he was, how mad, Desmond could tell that there were probably some days where Daniel felt Templar, and others where he felt Assassin, but in the end, this man before him—this was the real Daniel. Just Daniel.

"I..." Desmond cleared his dry throat, "... Yes." 

Daniel didn't have the heart to smile at that, but his lips twitched slightly, and there was relief. His shoulders sagged, and only then did Desmond realise how tense they were. 

Daniel stood slowly, and from his pocket he drew a butterfly knife, which he easily flicked open. He rounded Desmond and slipped the blade just between Desmond’s wrists, and with a single pull, cut the handcuffs cleanly. The plastic fell away, useless. The assassin brought his hands forward and rubbed his wrists, shaking his hands out and regaining feeling in his fingers.

"It wasn't really meant to be like this," Daniel chuckled, but it was hollow and ashamed, "but I guess nothing really turns out the way you planned." Desmond stood and turned to look at him, but all Daniel looked now was tired. Worn to the bone.

The Abstergo agent walked over to his motorcycle, opened the storage compartment on the back, and dumped Desmond's backpack and hidden blade out. His satchel thumped to the ground; the power source was still inside.

"I'll see you." Daniel shut the compartment and climbed onto the bike, kicking the stand up, his eyes trained firmly on the handle bars.

"Yeah." Definitely.

There was an odd silence between the two. Then, Daniel turned to look once more at Desmond, his eyes were determinedly blank. He had to make sure before he left. Make sure that Desmond understood. That he could trust Desmond.

"I'm just like you, Desmond, only you were lucky."

And then he was gone.

\- - -

Desmond didn't know how to mention it to his father, Shaun and Rebecca, so in the end, he never did. Looking back, as he had every night for a week now, it had still been the most surreal and random experience of his life. But now, hurling himself across this stupid, motherfucking Abstergo headquarters, up in rafters and down on cubicles as he followed a psychotic Daniel, he really wished he had.

He could hear the footsteps thundering after him in the distance, the Abstergo agents yelling at each other. Get him. Move! He went this way! Go, go, go!

But it didn't mean anything to Desmond. In his ear piece he could hear Shaun yelling,

"What the bloody hell are you doing?! Forget about him!! Stop chasing him and get the FUCK out of there, you giant TWAT."

And he guessed to them it was weird, to be chasing this guy, this Abstergo agent, when there were bigger priorities at hand, escaping and surviving for one, but they didn't know. All they saw was Abstergo. Templar. They couldn't see it like Desmond could. Couldn't see Daniel.

And that was why Desmond was flinging himself forward in a tackle onto Daniel, smashing them both onto the ground from the top of a cubicle. That was why Desmond was holding this broken man tightly as he struggled to free himself.

"Stop it!"

"D- Desmond?" Daniel froze, like a deer in headlights. There was a blinking, blurry clarity in his eyes.

"I'm going to save you!" but already the thundering of Abstergo agents was drawing nearer and nearer, and Daniel knew it too. Desmond panicked, there was no time! He should have known that the other man would be here, it was the fucking Abstergo headquarters! There should have been a plan, an escape route. He should have told the others, they would have trusted his word over Daniel’s past, especially Rebecca. But there was still hope, Daniel could climb, if they… if they left right now--

“Get up, get up!” Desmond propped himself up on his forearms, flicking his head back to check for guards.

"Kill me." Desmond froze, then looked down in incredulity.

"What?! But I said I'd sa-- mmph!" Daniel's cracked lips pressed to Desmond's scarred ones suddenly but firmly. Desmond's eyes widened while Daniel's slipped shut.

“My leg’s bust anyway.” And, fuck, that must have been from the tackle impact, it had been a three metre fall with force, and Daniel had taken Desmond’s weight, too.

“Shit, shit, sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t— I wanted to—“

“THERE!” Across the room, Abstergo guards burst through the doors, guns and batons at the ready.

"This is the only way you can now,” Daniel grimaced, but he was determined, “Things never go as you plan."

 

And Desmond knew it, too.


End file.
